Our end of the homestudy paperwork is 99% done, and we received permission Monday to have the social worker who will write our homestudy to proceed! Yeah!! Minutes later an automated email message came in saying that our social worker is out of office until 2/2. And thus the emotional highs and lows of the adoption roller coaster continue!
Our friend’s and family’s reactions continue to be all over the place too :-}. Some are cheering for us, others bluntly tell us we are NUTS! In a down moment, when I was questioning it all myself while Phil was on a business trip out of country for 8 days, he emailed me this:
“Keep walking, we will receive revisions in the plan if and when we need them (Isaiah 30:19-21).
Love Phil”
It’s wonderful to be able to encourage one another in the down moments. We only want God’s Will for our family and for little Yan… it’s the only way this will all work out!
And so we ask continued prayers for this adoption process, and for Yan’s health and physical and emotional safety.
I think I finally understand the basic process of this international adoption. We need Immigration Approval on a piece of paper before we can finish the all important Dossier and send it to China. But we need the finished and approved Homestudy before we can send either off. It’s currently taking Immigration 90-120 days to send out the approval. It’s taking 1-5 months to get Chinese approval once the Dossier is received and logged. And none of these countdowns start until the Homestudy is completed and approved. So specific prayer right now would be a speedy finishing of the Homestudy! I’ll be working to fill out the Immigration paperwork, and gathering all the “fresh” (they even want all new copies of our birth certificates!) documentation for the thick Dossier packet. More paperwork!!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
He's Real !!
A mom adopting her own new daughter from Yan's orphanage in southern China took this precious and GREATLY appreciated 4 second video for us, one day after Yan turned 4 ! Since the only pictures and news we had on him were all from 7/07, it was starting to feel like he wasn't real to me (Cindy). But that smile and wave.... new motivation to keep plowing throught the hoops and paperwork! :-) Thanks, Kym!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Happy Birthday!
Little Yan turns four years old today! And I just learned that our LOI was received and accepted on 12/15/08, and that we now have permission to make and send him a photo album of our family and home. :-) It's starting to seem more real!
Here We Go!
The roller coaster has taken off shakily indeed. Because of our ages and the needs of the three children we already parent, doubts plague us at the most unexpected times. But the needs of this one little boy keep us focused on helping him. What better Purpose can God have for us than to show Jesus’ love to an orphan, and teach one more about Him? :-)
Today little Yan turns 4. We cannot yet send him photos of us, let alone a care package. That’s hard! And so we plod ever onward through unbelievable amounts of paperwork and steps.
With few other goalposts, we will be measuring progress on this adoption roller coaster mostly by papers and forms done and filed! To date, Phil or I have filled out or typed out 85 (!) papers! It’s been awhile, but I’m thinking we’ve already done more paperwork for this one international adoption than all 3 of our previous domestic adoptions combined! I have a whole new admiration for all who survive this process ;-D.
To Date for those interested in the process:
11/12/08: filled out Waiting Child Application.
11/20/08: typed out detailed answers to 10 pages of interview questions and emailed them back to the adoption agency. We then participated in a telephone interview 11/21/08. We were officially matched with our future son on 11/25/08.
11/26/08: filled out a homestudy preapplication and mailed.
12/3/08: typed up and emailed the LOI (Letter of Intent)
12/5/08: filled out a formal Adoption Application and mailed.
12/9/08: Met with our homestudy social worker and received a stack of papers and forms that we need to work on ASAP. Filling out the paperwork is complicated by the fact that I (Cindy) had surgery the very next day!
12/23/08: Received a book from the adoption agency today on China that is at least 500 pages thick! Besides reading and following the directions within it, more forms were included as well as directions to go get 12 hours of training pre-adoption. This is starting to feel like going for a PhD ! Filled out the receipt page and mailed that out.
12/24/08: Filled out 13 pages, and both of us made it to the bank before closing time to get 8 of those pages notarized. These are for criminal background checks, motor vehicle/driving violations, and abuse/neglect allegations. We’ll surely have to do more of these later since we’ve lived in multiple states.
12/26/08: Made appointments for adoption physicals for all 3 kids and both adults. Mom and Dad need HIV, Hep B, Hep C, and TB testing as well.
12/28 to 1/13/09: Gave out referral forms for 5 friends to fill out about us.
1/14/09: Proofing the 146 (!) autobiographical questions Cindy has answered for the homestudy. Phil is still finishing up his 46 questions. Whew! Hoping to turn in all our homestudy paperwork yet this week!
Today little Yan turns 4. We cannot yet send him photos of us, let alone a care package. That’s hard! And so we plod ever onward through unbelievable amounts of paperwork and steps.
With few other goalposts, we will be measuring progress on this adoption roller coaster mostly by papers and forms done and filed! To date, Phil or I have filled out or typed out 85 (!) papers! It’s been awhile, but I’m thinking we’ve already done more paperwork for this one international adoption than all 3 of our previous domestic adoptions combined! I have a whole new admiration for all who survive this process ;-D.
To Date for those interested in the process:
11/12/08: filled out Waiting Child Application.
11/20/08: typed out detailed answers to 10 pages of interview questions and emailed them back to the adoption agency. We then participated in a telephone interview 11/21/08. We were officially matched with our future son on 11/25/08.
11/26/08: filled out a homestudy preapplication and mailed.
12/3/08: typed up and emailed the LOI (Letter of Intent)
12/5/08: filled out a formal Adoption Application and mailed.
12/9/08: Met with our homestudy social worker and received a stack of papers and forms that we need to work on ASAP. Filling out the paperwork is complicated by the fact that I (Cindy) had surgery the very next day!
12/23/08: Received a book from the adoption agency today on China that is at least 500 pages thick! Besides reading and following the directions within it, more forms were included as well as directions to go get 12 hours of training pre-adoption. This is starting to feel like going for a PhD ! Filled out the receipt page and mailed that out.
12/24/08: Filled out 13 pages, and both of us made it to the bank before closing time to get 8 of those pages notarized. These are for criminal background checks, motor vehicle/driving violations, and abuse/neglect allegations. We’ll surely have to do more of these later since we’ve lived in multiple states.
12/26/08: Made appointments for adoption physicals for all 3 kids and both adults. Mom and Dad need HIV, Hep B, Hep C, and TB testing as well.
12/28 to 1/13/09: Gave out referral forms for 5 friends to fill out about us.
1/14/09: Proofing the 146 (!) autobiographical questions Cindy has answered for the homestudy. Phil is still finishing up his 46 questions. Whew! Hoping to turn in all our homestudy paperwork yet this week!
Monday, December 15, 2008
One little boy needs a family
Over the years, I (Cindy) have advocated for special needs orphans in need of adoptive families when and where I can on the internet and in person. It's quite a blessing when I get to know about a child actually finding their forever family! :-) I call the children that come to my notice our "prayer children". Sometimes I believe God is just asking hubby and I to pray, and ask for prayer, for certain children at certain times. I received one such notice (no pictures) for a 3 yr old Chinese boy on 9/4/08, as follows in part:
"BABY BOY IN CHINA
The final item I want to mention in this message is an appeal on behalf of the little boy in China who desperately needs his forever family; we wrote about this child two and a half weeks ago and we are still waiting for his family. We are virtually out of time, but I am sending this out with the prayer that God would quickly raise up this boy's family; if we don't find his family very soon---within the next couple of days---this child's file will be returned to the CCAA, and we don't know what will happen after that. The following are the points of information we have received on this child:
- Three-year-old boy; - Large red birthmark on upper body and part of face; - Left ear abnormality; - Mental development is normal; - Possible Weber Syndrome (not confirmed); - No history of seizures; - He is a social little guy, but can be shy at times".
I inquired into Chinese regulations as an attempt to learn what more I could say or not say about this little one as I spread the word wherever I could? My inquiry was mistaken for interest in adopting him :-}. The adoption agency gal and I tried to reach each other by phone for several days to discuss what could and could not be forwarded online. In that short of time, CCAA recalled the file. :-( That means the child was no longer available for adoption! Maybe ever?! We were appalled, and hubby and I quickly asked "what if you tell CCAA that WE have belatedly stepped forward to adopt him? Would they release his file again?". And then we prayed, lots, waiting to hear back. The answer days later was "no".
I couldn't forget him, and kept him on prayer listings. I shared news of him with a friend, who suggested contacting someone that I had actually worked with many years earlier. I emailed her, and told her "a family" had stepped forward at the 12th hour, but it was too late for this one boy. Did she have a way to know if and when he was relisted, if he was?? And we would double our efforts to advocate for him?
Three weeks went by, and an email came out of left field on 10/8/08 saying a friend in a US international adoption agency had someone in Beijing who had found him. But CCAA didn't want to release his file until "the interested family" stepped forward. Gulp. We prayed, we stepped forward, THEN we learned we still didn't have to follow through in adoption... we may not even meet all of the agency's and China's requirements!! Whew.
It took an agonizing 4 weeks (!) for the release to happen. But we finally got word 11/10/08, along with his file and photos, that his file had been released, and the little guy was once again available to adopt. "So we can now advocate for him, I asked?" No - he was a designated release. They would wait until WE decided yes or no to adopting him ourselves before posting his file on the internet! We prayed lots more, and believe that God is gently asking us to, for the third time, to step forward and offer OUR home to this little one. Interestingly enough, I had always told people that I didn't care if a child was black, white or purple polka-dot... we would love them all just the same. Yep - with his Port Wine Stain fading off into spots in places, little Yan is a God-made purple polka-dotted child. God has quite a sense of humor!
And thus we are now fully committed to the incredible spiritual highs and lows, emotional ups and downs, and mountains of paperwork, time and expenses.... all known as the Adoption Roller Coaster. It's up to God now to stop this ride for our family if this one little boy is truly meant to be in a different family. If not, then we pray that God keeps His protection and comfort around him while we try our best to ride this coaster to the end, and soon.
"BABY BOY IN CHINA
The final item I want to mention in this message is an appeal on behalf of the little boy in China who desperately needs his forever family; we wrote about this child two and a half weeks ago and we are still waiting for his family. We are virtually out of time, but I am sending this out with the prayer that God would quickly raise up this boy's family; if we don't find his family very soon---within the next couple of days---this child's file will be returned to the CCAA, and we don't know what will happen after that. The following are the points of information we have received on this child:
- Three-year-old boy; - Large red birthmark on upper body and part of face; - Left ear abnormality; - Mental development is normal; - Possible Weber Syndrome (not confirmed); - No history of seizures; - He is a social little guy, but can be shy at times".
I inquired into Chinese regulations as an attempt to learn what more I could say or not say about this little one as I spread the word wherever I could? My inquiry was mistaken for interest in adopting him :-}. The adoption agency gal and I tried to reach each other by phone for several days to discuss what could and could not be forwarded online. In that short of time, CCAA recalled the file. :-( That means the child was no longer available for adoption! Maybe ever?! We were appalled, and hubby and I quickly asked "what if you tell CCAA that WE have belatedly stepped forward to adopt him? Would they release his file again?". And then we prayed, lots, waiting to hear back. The answer days later was "no".
I couldn't forget him, and kept him on prayer listings. I shared news of him with a friend, who suggested contacting someone that I had actually worked with many years earlier. I emailed her, and told her "a family" had stepped forward at the 12th hour, but it was too late for this one boy. Did she have a way to know if and when he was relisted, if he was?? And we would double our efforts to advocate for him?
Three weeks went by, and an email came out of left field on 10/8/08 saying a friend in a US international adoption agency had someone in Beijing who had found him. But CCAA didn't want to release his file until "the interested family" stepped forward. Gulp. We prayed, we stepped forward, THEN we learned we still didn't have to follow through in adoption... we may not even meet all of the agency's and China's requirements!! Whew.
It took an agonizing 4 weeks (!) for the release to happen. But we finally got word 11/10/08, along with his file and photos, that his file had been released, and the little guy was once again available to adopt. "So we can now advocate for him, I asked?" No - he was a designated release. They would wait until WE decided yes or no to adopting him ourselves before posting his file on the internet! We prayed lots more, and believe that God is gently asking us to, for the third time, to step forward and offer OUR home to this little one. Interestingly enough, I had always told people that I didn't care if a child was black, white or purple polka-dot... we would love them all just the same. Yep - with his Port Wine Stain fading off into spots in places, little Yan is a God-made purple polka-dotted child. God has quite a sense of humor!
And thus we are now fully committed to the incredible spiritual highs and lows, emotional ups and downs, and mountains of paperwork, time and expenses.... all known as the Adoption Roller Coaster. It's up to God now to stop this ride for our family if this one little boy is truly meant to be in a different family. If not, then we pray that God keeps His protection and comfort around him while we try our best to ride this coaster to the end, and soon.
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